Zipper lock



April 10, 1962 B- B. GREENBERG 3,028,647

ZIPPER LOCK Filed March 31, 1959 INVENTOR. BURLEIGH B. GREENBERG ATTORNEYS 7 3,028,647 Patented Apr. 10, 1962 ice 3,028,647 ZIPPER LOCKBurleigh B. Greenberg, Providence, R.I., assignor to Brier ManufacturingCompany, Providence, 11.1., a corporation of Rhode Island Filed Mar. 31,1959, Ser. No. 803,260 3 Claims. (Cl. 24-20514) The present inventionrelates to a lock for zippers or slide fasteners such as are used ingarments and similar articles to secure together the edges of partsthereof and particularly in connection with zippers and locks thereforwhich are made with plastic instead of metal. Plastic zippers are nowused in place of buttons and buttonholes, hooks, and eyes and the likeand may be ornamented by the insertion of brilliant stones or otherwise.My invention provides a simple and effective device for locking theslider against accidental or unexpected movement either up or down,i.e., lengthwise along the rows of zipper members. At the present time,and as now constructed, the sliders of plastic zippers can usually bemoved when not intended and therefore may release the rows of zippermembers unintentionally and unexpectedly. Also it has been found thatwhen the two sides of the garment opening above the slider are pulledstrongly sidewise, the zipper slides down releasing more zipper membersand allowing the garment to open.

One object of this invention is to provide a simple lock which may bemade of plastic and forms part of the slider and is so constructed thatany tendency of the sides of the opening above the slide to be pulledapart or of the slider to move downwardly relative to the zipper memberslocks the slider more firmly against such movement.

Another object is to provide such a lock which can be released only bylifting the finger piece of the lock.

Another object is to provide a lock for plastic zippers which iseconomical to manufacture and easy to operate.

Other objects relate to the construction and operation and will beapparent from the following description and the accompanying drawingswhich exemplify one embodiment of my invention chosen for the purposesof illustration.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a lock for and a plastic zipper with thelock handle in unlocked position;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section taken on the lines 22 ofFIGURE 1 but with the lock shown in locking position;

FIGURE 3 is a view in perspective of the slider and lock in disassembledcondition; and

FIGURE 4 is a section taken on the lines 4-4 of FIGURE 2 looking in thedirection of the arrows but with the lock handle in unlocked position.

In the drawings, at and 11 are two fabric strips to be united by asuitable zipper and suitable to be sewn on the edge of a garment. Eachstrip is provided along one edge with two parallel cords 12 and 13. Thecord 12 forms a convenient rib to which the interlocking zipper membersmay be secured and the groove 14 between the cords accommodates theflanges 21-22 of the slide 17 during movement thereof as will bedescribed hereafter.

The interlocking zipper members 15 are formed of plastic and each isprovided with a projecting ball 16 on the face toward the next zippermember 15, this ball being received within a cooperating socket or hole40 in the adjacent zipper member. Together the ball 16 and socket 40form an interlock (see FIG. 2) so that when the zipper is closed, thezipper members form a flexible chain.

For purposes of ornamentation I set brilliants 36 in the interlockingzipper members 15.

At 17, see particularly FIG. 3, is shown the slider which consists oftop and bottom plates 18, 19 joined together by a dividing member 2i).The two plates 18 and 19 are each formed with flanges 21 and 22 alongtheir side edges. Together the dividing member 20 and the flanges 21 and22 form two passages through which the chain of interlocking zippermembers 15 can be drawn and thereby pulied close together to interlockwith each other or separated according to the direction of the m0vementof the slider 17.

On the top plate 18 of the slider 17 an enclosure is formed by raisedwalls 23, 24 and 25. This enclosure is open at the end opposite the endWall 25 and surrounds a passage 32 which opens into the space betweenthe two plates 18 and 19. Within the enclosure a locking lever 26 ismounted on a pin 29. This locking lever 26 is in the shape of abell-crank, one arm of which 27 forms a locking projection while theother arm forms a finger piece 28. The finger piece 28 of the L-shapedlocking member 26 is formed with a shank 39 of a width to nearly fillthe space between the two side walls 23 and 24 of the enclosure. Thefinger piece 28 also has a wide portion 31 which is of a width equal tothe distance between the outer surfaces of the two Walls 23 and 24 sothat shoulders 33 and 34 are formed and when the finger piece 23 is inlocking position its side edges are flush with the side walls 23 and 24of the enclosure. These shoulders may lightly engage the ends of the twoside walls 23 and 24 when the finger piece is in the down or lockedposition.

To make the finger piece in keeping with the rest of the zipper, Iinsert matching brilliants 36 therein.

In locked position the locking projection 27 of the L-shaped lockingmember 26 extends down through the hole 32 in the slider 17 into agroove or space 38 between two adjacent interlocked zipper members 15,and its point is of a shape and size so that it can enter the spacebteween such adjacent zipper members 15 as shown in FIG. 2. During thelocking operation downward pressure on the finger piece 31 of thelocking member 26 causes the locking projection 27 to move the slider 17a small distance downwardly relative to the zipper elements (looking atFIG. 2) thereby to enable the projection 27 to enter an underlying space38. When the projection 27 is in a space 38, any tendency of the sliderto slide down the zipper and unlock it is prevented by the action of theupper face of the zipper unit (looking at FIG. 2) which is in engagementwith the lower curved surface of the locking projection 27 (also lookingat FIG. 2). This action tends to cause the L-shaped locking member 26 torotate in a counterclockwise direction about the pin 29 but rotation inthatdirection is prevented because the bottom surface of the fingerpiece 28 is in engagement with the upper surface of the upper plate 13of the slider 17 and thus accidental unlocking is prevented.

To unlock the slider it is merely necessary to rotate the locking leverabout the pin 29 in a clockwise direction (looking at FIG. 2) and thiscauses the projection 27 to leave the space 38 within which it waslocated.

While I have shown and described one desirable embodiment of theinvention, it is to be understood that this disclosure is for thepurpose of illustration and that various changes in shape, proportionand arrangement of parts and the substitution of equivalent elements maybe made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asset forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with interlocking zipper members in two rows andsecured alternately on the opposing edges of the material to be secured,a plastic slider composed of top and bottom plates, side flanges and aseparator forming a connection between the plates and dividing theenclosed space into two passageways for the passage of said rows ofzippers, said top plate being provided with a raised enclosure havingtwo side walls extending upwardly from the upper surface of said topplate and spaced inwardly from the side edges of said top plate with apassage between them extending into an opening through said top plateinto said enclosed space, said opening being spaced from the front andrear end edges of said top plate, a plastic L-shaped locking memberpivoted between said side walls at the apex of the arms of the L by afixed pivot connection and comprising a bell crank lever, one of thearms of the L forming a finger piece and the other a locking projectioncomprising a beak extending from the pivot of said locking member, whichbeak when the locking member is rotated to locking position extends intoa space between two interlocked zipper members, said finger piece havinga narrow neck portion between said side walls and a wider rear endportion forming with said narrow neck portion at least one shoulderadjacent the rear end of at least one of said side walls, said raisedenclosure comprising a third vertical end wall extending upwardly fromthe top surface of the top plate and spaced inwardly from the front andrear end edges of the top plate and the inner surface of which issubstantially flush with the front end edge of said opening in saidplate, the inner surfaces of said side walls being substantially flushwith the side edges of said opening in said plate, said side wallsextending beyond the other rear end edge of said opening but terminatingshort of the rear end edge of said top plate corresponding to the rearend edge of said opening, said wider end portion of said finger pieceabutting the upper surface of said top plate between the ends of saidside walls and said rear end edge of said plate when said locking memberis in locking position.

2. In combination with interlocking zipper members in two rows andsecured alternately on the opposing edges of the material to be secured,a plastic slider composed of top and bottom plates, side flanges and aseparator forming a connection between the plates and dividing theenclosed space into two passageways for the passage of said rows ofzippers, said top plate being provided with a raised enclosure havingtwo side walls extending upwardly from the upper surface of said topplate and spaced inwardly from the side edges of said top plate with apassage between them extending into an opening through said top plateinto said enclosed space, said opening being spaced from the front andrear end edges of said top plate, a plastic L-shaped locking memberpivoted between said side walls at the apex of the arms of the L by afixed pivot connection and comprising a bell crank lever, one of thearms of the L forming a finger piece and the other a locking projectioncomprising a beak extending from the pivot of said locking member, whichbeak when the locking member is rotated to locking position extends intoa space between two interlocked zipper members, said finger piece havinga narrow neck portion between said side walls and a wider rear endportion forming with said narrow neck portion at least one shoulderadjacent the rear end of at least one of said side walls, said shoulderengaging said end of said side wall when the locking member is inlocking position.

3. In combination with interlocking zipper members in two rows andsecured alternately on the opposing edges of the material to be secured,a plastic slider composed of top and bottom plates, side flanges and aseparator forming a connection between the plates and dividing theenclosed space into two passageways for the passage of said rows ofzippers, said top plate being provided with a raised enclosure havingtwo side walls extending upwardly from the upper surface of said topplate and spaced inwardly from the side edges of said top plate with apassage between them extending into an opening through said top plateinto said enclosed space, said opening being spaced from the front andrear end edges of said top plate, a plastc L-shaped locking memberpivoted between said side walls at the apex of the arms of the L by afixed pivot connection and comprising a bell crank lever, one of thearms of the L forming a finger piece and the other a locking projectioncomprising a beak extending from the pivot of said locking member, whichbeak when the locking member is rotated to locking position extends intoa space between two interlocked zipper members, said finger piece havinga narrow neck portion between said side walls and a wider rear endportion for ing with said narrow neck portion at least one shoulderadjacent the rear end of at least one of said side walls, the top ofsaid finger piece being substantially flush with the upper edges of saidside walls, the side edges of said wider end portion of said fingerpiece being substantially flush with the outer surfaces of said sidewalls.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,735,521 Young Nov. 12, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS 661,719 Great Britain Nov.28, 1951 749,420 Great Britain May 23, 1956 769,468 Great Britain Mar.6, 1957 168,707 Switzerland July 2, 1934 176,907 Switzerland May 15,1935

